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CARTRIDGE GAPPER AND DEGAPPER.

No. 405,997. Patented June 25, I889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIE IV. HARRIS, OF SIOUX CITY, IOIVA, ASSIGNOR TO HENRY A. LYON, OF SAME PLACE.

CARTRIDGE CAPPER AND DECAPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,997, dated June 25, 1889.

To all whont'it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIE IV. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, in the county of Voodbury and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridge Cappers and Decappers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of eartridge-implements which are used to aid in placing caps upon or into cartridges in the process of loading them, and in removing the exploded caps from the cartridge-shell after firing.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive implement which shall be light and easily carried about the person, and by means of which, first, an exploded cap may be removed from a cartridgeshell, and, second, a new cap may be crowded to place in the shell without removing the shell from the implement.

To this end my invention consist-s in the construction and combination of parts forming a cartridge capper and decapper, hereinafter described and claim ed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I represents a longitudinal vertical section of my invention in the act of decapping a cartridge-shell. Fig. II shows a horiy zontal section at the line as and a plan view of the parts below. Fig. III shows the invention in side elevation, with the parts in position for capping a cartridge-shell.

represents the body portion of my invention having a vertical aperture through it, of a suitable width to receive the body of that sized cartridge upon which the device is to operate, but not wide enough to permit the head of the cartridge to pass through. The body5 is provided with a lever or handle 11 and a pair of ears 12, between which the operating-lever 13 is pivoted to swing vertically through an arc of a quarter of a circle Application filed Iarch 5, I889. Serial No. 301,834- (No model.)

8 represents a ramrod pivoted at 9, near its lower end, to the projection 7 and entering the aperture 10, in which it may swing freely from end to end. fitted to slide freely in the cartridge-shell, and its upper end is tipped with a projection let of a size suitable to pass through the head of the shell, so as to ram the cap out of its seat.

15 represents acup or aperture in the oper- 6o,

ating-lever 13, adapted to receive the cap when expelled, while the face of the lever around the said cup is fitted to press fairly upon the head of the shell around the cap-seat.

16 represents ascrew threaded through the lever 13, and cupped or otherwise suitably shaped at its lower end to fit fairly upon the head of a cap for the purpose of pressing the cap into the shell without danger of explodin g it. A cartridge-sh ell 19, when placed within the aperture 10, will rests its flange on the side walls thereof, and the edges of these walls or resting-places for the shell are higher from the pivot 9 at 17 than they are at 18, in order that the ramrod, when at the end 17 of the aperture, may not reach the head of the shell or the cap, and when at the end 18 it may pass through the head of the shell to expel the cap.

If a discharged cartridgeshell be placed upon the ramrod within the aperture 10, and the lever 13 be pressed down, as shown in Fig. I, the shell will be crowded down so that the tip of the ramrod will be thrust through its head, thereby ejecting the old cap 20 from the shell into the cup 15. Now if the lever 13 be raised, the cap will fall out. Then by swinging the ramrod with the shell on it to the position shown in Fig. I the tip of the ramrod will be drawn into the shell out of the answer the same purpose only that the screw I00 renders the height of such seat adjustable. The cup 15 might be a slot lengthwise or The body of the ramrod is 55 Now invert the body 5 and the lever Then the capped shell 5 across the lever, solong as it would permit the escape of the cap while the lever pressed the cartridge-head. A prominent characteristic of this invention is the side walls of the aperture 10, whose height is greater from the pivot 9 at one end of the aperture than at the other end, and it is immaterial at which end the greater height is, because the parts may be as readily arranged either to cap or to decap at one end of the aperture as at the other.

The device is herein shown in connection with a shotgun-cartridge shell; but it is just as well adapted to all rifle-cartridges having a central hole through the head to receive primers or percussion-caps.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. The combination of a body portion 5, having an oblong aperture 10 through it suitable to receive the body of a cartridge-shell, while the side walls of the aperture serve as 'a' rest to the flange portion of the said shell, a ramrod 8, shaped at one end to pass through the head of the said shell, and pivoted near its other end to a portion of the said body to swing freely in the said aperture, a lever pivoted to the said body and provided with a cap seat opposite one end of the said aperture and with a capreceptacle and cartridge-head presser opposite the other end, the walls of the said aperture being higher from the pivot of the ramrod at that end of the aperture opposite the said cap-seat than at the end opposite the cap-receptacle, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of a body portion 5, a

ramrod 8, and a lever 13, pivoted thereto, the said lever being provided with a cap-seat in one place and a cap-receptacle and cartridgehead presser in another place, the ramrod being adapted to swing to positions opposite the two places, and the body portion being provided with a seat for the flange of a cartridge opposite each of the said places, one of the said cartridge-seats being farther than the other fromthe pivot of the ramrod, substantially as shown and described, whereby a car-' tridge-shell placed upon the said ramrod may be first seated opposite the cap-receptacle and have a cap rammed out of it, and then be moved to the seat opposite the cap-seat and have a new cap pressed into it without intermediate removal from the ramrod.

3. The combination of a body portion 5, having two seats for the flange of a cartridge, a ramrod pivoted to the body portion to swing from one seat to the other, and a lever pivoted to the body portion and provided with a capseat opposite to one of the said cartridge-seats and with a cap receptacle and cartridgepresser opposite the other, the pivot of the ramrod being nearer to one of the cart-ridgeseats than to the other, substantially as shown and described, whereby the tip of the ramrod, when swung to one seat, will project beyond the plane thereof, and when swung to the other seat it will fail to reach the plane of the latter, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIE W. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

R. E. SACKETT, MINNIE S. BUFFINGTON. 

